UAE | Emergencies
He desperately hopes to be found
Suffering from loss of memory, Lakshman has spent three months in hospital
- By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 February 16, 2012
- Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
- Laxman arranges his bed at the hospital. He has become a great help to staff in the ward and to other patients.
Dubai: A man who recollects little about himself, following a severe head injury last year, is stranded at a government hospital, as authorities are yet to identify him.
Although doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital are overjoyed at the prospect of Lakshman getting back together with his family, the three-month long resident will be deeply missed as he has grown to become a "doctors pet", spreading joy around the otherwise dismal hospital environment.
"My name is Lakshman. My wife and four children are back home in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, in India," 43-year-old Lakshman said, pausing and often shying away as he spoke to Gulf News on Wednesday.
That is most of what he remembers of himself.
He was brought to the Rashid Hospital by the Dubai Police ambulance on November 19, last year with a severe head injury. He was found in the Jafiliya area.
"He is my assistant," joked Lakshman's doctor, who requested not to be named.
"He is very playful and takes it upon himself to help other patients, from helping them with their bed sheets and pillows to giving new patients information about hospital formalities."
Unreliable memory
Lakshman injured the front lobe of his brain, possibly in an accident, and this has affected his recent memories. "He underwent a surgery which even involved the removal of parts of his skull. Somebody else may not even remember their name. So it is not surprising," the doctor said.
He says he is from Mankammathota in Karim Nagar, Andhra Pradesh, and that he has two sets of twins — a boy and a girl aged eight and another boy and a girl aged six. But his doctors are not sure these details could be right. Authorities have been trying desperately to find friends, colleagues or relatives of the man without any luck.
"He had nothing on him that could help us identify him."
Once, he was nowhere to be found and everyone was looking for him and he finally emerged from under one of the beds where he was hiding, a nurse said.
"He goes from bed to bed and even to other wards and gives patients company and consoles them," said another, adding that he is a wonderful person.
Long scar
Running his hand through a long scar across his head, Lakshman went on to say he knows the way home if he reaches the airport in Hyderabad and that his home is two hours away from the airport.
Earlier, Lakshman took the names of few companies where he believed he was working at.
However, that information proved wrong as those companies confirmed he never worked for them.
"He keeps repeating that he used to live in an area where there was a supermarket and mosque close by. But of course it is too vague," the doctor said.
Lakshman volunteered to demonstrate to Gulf News how he makes himself useful at the ward, but as soon as he saw the camera, he grew timid and stood in an upright position to get his picture taken.
The doctors helped him ease up a little bit, but he still seemed confused. In another few minutes, he was seen attempting to tidy a messed up bed belonging to another patient. "Lakshman stop doing that. You must not touch others patients beds," one of the nurses said, lovingly scolded him.
He obliged.
"He desperately hopes to be found by someone who knows him," the doctor added, urging anyone with any information about Lakshman to come forward at the earliest.
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